World Communism; A History of The Communist International
Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1963. First Edition as an Ann Arbor Paperback [stated]. Second printing [stated]. Trade paperback. [4], 442, [2] pages. Bibliographical Notes. Index. Ink writing inside front cover and ink underlining noted. New Introduction by Raymond Aron. Franz Borkenau (December 15, 1900 – May 22, 1957) was an Austrian writer. Borkenau was born in Vienna, Austria, the son of a civil servant. As a university student in Leipzig, his main interests were Marxism and psychoanalysis. Borkenau is known as one of the pioneers of the totalitarianism theory. In the 1950s, Borkenau was well known as an expert on Communism and the Soviet Union. Borkenau was one of the founders of Sovietology. As a Kremlinologist, one of Borkenau's major interests was making predictions about the future of Communism. During WWII Borkenau wrote that Communist internationalism was only a vehicle for Soviet imperialism. Some of Borkenau's predictions, such as his claim during the early 1950s about the coming Sino-Soviet split would come true, but others would not.[43] In an article in the April 1954 edition of Commentary entitled "Getting at the Facts Behind the Soviet Facade", Borkenau wrote that the Sino-Soviet alliance was unstable and would last for only a decade or so. The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled, international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by all available means, including armed force, for the overthrow of the international bourgeoisie and the creation of an international Soviet republic as a transition stage to the complete abolition of the state". The Comintern was preceded by the 1916 dissolution of the Second International.
The Comintern held seven World Congresses in Moscow between 1919 and 1935. During that period, it also conducted thirteen Enlarged Plenums of its governing Executive Committee, which had much the same function as the somewhat larger and more grandiose Congresses. Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, dissolved the Comintern in 1943 to avoid antagonizing his allies in the later years of World War II, the United States and the United Kingdom. It was succeeded by the Cominform in 1947. Condition: Good / No dust jacket issued.
Keywords: Raymond Aron, Russian Revolution, Bolshevism, Labor Movements, General Strike, Bukharin, Brandler, Socialism, Lenin, Bela Kun, Rosa Luxemburg, Radek, Sinovjev, Trotsky
[Book #85264]
Price: $25.00